Hold - Far Bazaar 2017

The word “vessel” connects to wide-ranging associations. From a hand-held object of daily use to a ship transferring cargo across an ocean, the vessel serves to hold something transitory so that it might be digested or preserved, grounding the ephemeral to an earthly collection point. Whereas the human body is mere empty flesh, it can be seen as a vessel for the immaterial elements of humanity—the “soul”, “spirit”, or “consciousness”.

Organized by artist collective, Rough Play,to be on view in the ceramics studio at Cerritos College on the occasion of the FAR BAZAAR, the work in Hold engages with these ideas through contemporary notions of the literal versus the metaphorical, in some cases referencing the physical form of the vessel; and in others, through metaphorical associations with the location of the “soul”, “spirit”, or “consciousness”. Approaching the vessel as a concept, the art object is considered in its capacity to operate as a vessel for ideas, emotions, and memories.